Atkinson III shows impressive speed at scouting combine

The Raiders can address a glaring need at kick returner by turning to a familiar face in George Atkinson III, who sparkled at the NFL scouting combine Sunday.
Atkinson III is the son of former Raiders standout defensive back George Atkinson. He auditioned in front of NFL owners, general managers, scouts and coaches in Indianapolis in hopes of being selected in the NFL draft in May.
He posted times of 4.39 and 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash Sunday, with Raiders owner Mark Davis and Atkinson’s father looking on from a suite in Indianapolis.
The Raiders, of course, crave fast players. Just as important, they are in need of a player who possesses Atkinson’s kick returning ability.
Atkinson III shined in that capacity during his collegiate career at Notre Dame. He averaged 24.3 yards and scored two touchdowns on kick returns during his three-year career for the Fighting Irish.
Atkinson III also averaged 6.2 yards rushing and scored 10 touchdowns in a complementary role.
Taiwan Jones led the Raiders with a 24-yard average on kick returns last season. However, he has a history of trouble hanging on to the ball and is far from a lock to retain that job next season.
Atkinson III bypassed his final year of college eligibility. His decision came on the heels of being suspended for Notre Dame’s final game, against Rutgers on Dec. 28, for what coach Brian Kelly termed “a violation of team rules.”
Atkinson III defended himself via Twitter by saying that he got suspended for texting during a team meal, something he did all season.
Atkinson III is a Granada High School graduate. He also was a regular visitor to Raiders practices during his formative years, along with his twin brother Josh.

Don’t know anything about him. But Wiz is somewhat of a Legacy from a great player, he’s Good. Long’s kids, Winslow’s son. There are exceptions like Chris Simms.

william banks

YOU ALREADY KNOW!!–TEAM FIRST.Offensive Line,Defense,Special Teams and the QB is the LAST PIECE to the puzzle.

dplunk

his older bro is doing fine though

Guest123

in backwards world this is ALL true.

dplunk

Brian Griese

BigBenRexor

Billboard Head and Eli

DKnight007

Sign McCown to a 3 year deal…cap friendly. Draft Garapolo or McCarron in like Round 4 to compete. Unless they fall in love with Borltes, Manz or Bridge…which I doubt.

dplunk

wonder how LB’s Barr, and Mack do at the combines..they might be possible tradedown scenarios.

Purvisman/Eternal Optimist

No way Johnny could keep up!

RaidingTexas

Gil Brandt @Gil_Brandt1h

Someone will take Clowney very high in this draft. I’m not sure I’d ever be completely comfortable drafting him.

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Which GM will start filling out his own pink slip in May?

william banks

Sorry to tell you but, you must be living in that backwards world then.You have no Clue what it takes to build a Superbowl Champion.You just think that having your QB is the cure of all teams problems.Ask Dan Marino then?

DKnight007

Mack has done well so far….I want to see how he drops back and covers….

RaidingTexas

Holy crap, Egon is dead!

TrevJo

Guy to look at for RB in the 3rd round (considered a late 2nd to early 3rd rounder), Bishop Sankey of Washington.

Was 3rd all-time at UW in rushing despite only starting for 2 years. (Had 3300 yds in 2 years starting and 3 years total, whereas Napoleon Kaufman and Chris Polk basically put up 3700-4000 in 3 years of starting and 4 years total.)

Decent receiver as well.

Combine numbers: 5’9″ 209# (nice), 4.49 (very solid for his size). 26 bench reps, which was aided by only having 31″ long arms, but he has big hands at 10″ which is 2nd among 37 RBs so physically he should be able to hold on to the ball.
Broad jump was very good at 10’6″, three-cone drill was best among RBs at 6.75, short shuttle was best among RBs at 4.00. Those numbers excite me a lot. Probably even worth an early 2nd round pick honestly although RB is not a position I am targeting for us in the first 2 rounds. Vertical was also good at 35.5″.

Guest123

Dan Marino was a helluva QB, and in this era I’m pretty sure he’d have a SB ring. The point is his teams were always competive, always in the mix for a SB run. And we haven’t had a team that has been in the talk of SB runs since Rich Gannon. And till we find a QB like that, we will continue to be alsorans. If all we had was a FC QB like Dan Marino, I could live with that kind of backwards. I think many in here would too.

http://Raiders.com/ Dan78

Of Course not, Johnny’s a rookie….. That would be awesome to see a limo pull up with Mark Davis in his orange suit and Johnny right next to him, Heading to the club…..

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

If there was a book on how to build a SB champion, everyone would simply read the book and be a champion.
Don’t be a jack azz. You can name great players at every position that didn’t win even a playoff game, better yet a SB.

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

I think a suit would be too much for Mark. He would have on his nicest white, skin tight slacks however.

Guest123

would be nice, but we have other needs more important than a RB, at least not in the third round.

BigBenRexor

RB is a pretty huge need.

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

What happens if Reggie can’t resign Jennings?
RB might become a ginormous hole on the roster.
Murray is a 6th round pick of a leg injury. I would be surprised if he ever scores an NFL TD.

disqus_yeZNegncsV

Tafur thinks that if RM doesn’t think any of the qbs at pick 5 are worthy of being called a franchise qb, he’ll go for Mack, FWIW.

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

I would rather have Mack or Barr over the Clown man.
At least for the first 3 years of that initial contract. Clowney might go crazy in his contract year before bolting out of town.

TrevJo

RB is one of many needs. The thing about RB is that a rookie can make an immediate impact. To me with so many needs we need to get the slower-developing positions first, like QB, DL, DB, OL. (I’d put WR in that group too but we already have a lot of young WRs.) To me Sankey is an early 2nd round talent easy, maybe even a mid 1st round talent, I’d jump on it in the 3rd if we get that chance, even though other positions are a higher priority.

BigBenRexor

Even if he resigns Jennings, we still need a RB. Jennings was just alright, all he had to do to impress was be better than McFadden, and Mike Goodson showed last year it’s easy to do.

Michael

Kinda what I’ve been saying. If we don’t resign Jennings we will need a back at some point. Even if we do, not trying to belittle what Jennings did this past season, but I have my doubts he can be a feature back going forward. Should be fine for this upcoming season but reminds me a bit of the mike bush situation where he was much more effective as a rotation guy

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

Raiders sign Taiwan Jones to 3 year extension.
And the Raiders list him as “CB Taiwan Jones”.
His charade at RB might finally be completely over.

william banks

Look,QBs don’t win the games because the TEAM wins the QB is just lucky to be on that TEAM that’s all.Wilson or Manning who’s better but who won the game.Seattle as a TEAM,not Denver with the better QB!!

disqus_yeZNegncsV

McCown doesn’t want to leave the Bears, told Papa he was happy being a backup there. The interview was on The Game last week.

Michael

Nice. He is incredibly valuable on special teams

Purvisman/Eternal Optimist

SCTV was quite a while ago, wasn’t it? Getting old.

Guest123

Reggie needs to write his number down on a sticky note turn it over and slide it Rashad. If he doesn’t like it, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. The RB class is depressing this year. If we choose to step into it, make sure to use another late round pick as the RB’s should be derated compared to typical RB classes. What I’ve heard is the general feel that none of the RB’s from this class have the kind of skill set that transcends anything any of the other RB’s incumbent or free agent that are in the NFL right now. Take for instance, Phillip Tanner, who the Cowboys are going to let walk because of salary cap. Just use the available talent at the position across the NFL, play it against Jennings and let the market decide. But don’t reach early on a mediocre RB.

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

So do you think Denver has a really good team?
I think they have a great QB, some good WR’s, and about 45 other average guys.

Guest123

Didn’t realize he was so old. All I remember was the Ghostbusters movie.

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

McCown is only signing 1 year deals now, per his insistence or so he said.
Not sure about playing much further along and wants to be a backup.
Kind of his word.

dplunk

Exactly

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

Doh…right when I was typing it, lol

TrevJo

Already discussed.
34″ arms on Watt from what I saw, which is shorter arms than Clowney.
Also Watt weighs 24 pounds more and ran the 40 in 4.84.

BigBenRexor

And people think Reggie is dragging his feet in the Syrup. He’s just working from Least important to most, that’s all.

Purvisman/Eternal Optimist

Stripes. Remember Sgt. Hulka.(Not Ramis,obviously)

https://twitter.com/MimiPeepeechimi Just Fire Baby

So he weights 8 % more than Clowney, has 1/2 shorter arms, runs the forty in 5% slower time, but puts up 60% MORE REPS.
Watt = better athlete